Nate McCarthy: 'Distance' was originally inspired by the jazz standard 'I'll Be Seeing You', and the idea of someone continuing to exist in a place even after they've died. It's really a song about place and memory. It was written following a trip we were invited on to the Caribbean in the wake of our bass player Jesse's death a few months earlier.

It all felt very strange, being in a foreign country in a time of such grief and confusion. I remember walking down the island roads at night, with jungle on both sides, and beyond that, the ocean, and just being in complete darkness, the kind that you never experience living outside a major city, with the light pollution and all.

And then finally returning to New York, even the places that once felt familiar seemed to have changed.

Anders Fleming: The first full band approach was sort of folky, we were trying to squeeze everything around this vocal melody that we all felt really good about. It worked, but it didn't leave a lot of room for the drums, bass, and lead guitar. We struggled to find the right feel for the song, and came very close to discarding it completely, until I started playing the exact beat that's on the recording, Ben (lead guitar) began playing the very simple lead guitar riff that really carries the song, and things just sort of fell into place after that. We usually leave very little work for ourselves in the studio as far as writing is concerned. We must of played 'Distance' a dozen times live before going into the studio.